All Publications By Date

The changing fortunes of the Palestinian movement, HAMAS, and the recent outcomes of Israeli strategies aimed against this group and Palestinian nationalism external to the Fatah faction of the Palestinian Authority are discussed. The example of HAMAS challenges much of the current wisdom on “insurgencies” and their containment. Efforts have been made to separate HAMAS from its popular support and network of social and charitable organizations.

The concept of war without borders is used to analyze the strategic implications of the Colombian attack against a FARC camp inside Ecuadorean territory on March 1, 2008. Lessons learned apply directly to the policy of the United States and the hemispheric community.

The author discusses the traditional importance of unity of command in American doctrine and practice from World War I until now, and how this principle has been forsaken in the evolution of military command for Afghanistan. He argues for a renewal of understanding of the importance of unity of command and recommends amending the Unified Command Plan to invest one "supreme commander" with responsibility for the current Operation ENDURING FREEDOM Joint Operations Area.

Historically, defense strategy demonstrates three flaws: (1) it is generally reactive, (2) it lacks sufficient strategic imagination, and (3) as a result, it is vulnerable to surprise. The current administration confronted a game-changing “strategic shock” in its first 8 months in office. The next team would be well-advised to expect the same kind of unconventional and nonmilitary shock to DoD convention early in its first term.

The author revises, reexamines, and reevaluates the contemporary military environment. He finds that the environment is a period of relative military stasis, of slow technological development, and of little novelty in broader issues. If anything, it is a return to an older period, of the time before the Cold War, before the fear of nuclear war dominated all other thinking in the field.

Analysis of China’s armed forces tends to focus on its role in a potential Taiwan scenario, given that the PLA retains a central mission in the reunification of Taiwan or prevention of its independence. However, it is also becoming clear that China’s interests and foreign policy objectives are growing with its increasing power and international stature. As a result, it is reasonable to expect the PLA to be asked to perform a wider variety of missions in support of Chinese interests and objectives, from disaster and humanitarian relief and United Nations peacekeeping operations; to counterterrorism and border defense; to outer space and cyber space security; and extending to the protection of ethnic Chinese abroad.

The Bush School of Government and Public Service held a conference on “Leadership and National Security Reform: The Next President’s Agenda” on March 20, 2008, at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center, Texas A&M University. The conference addressed national and international security reforms and the next presidency.

The current age of state building may be traced back at least to U.S. involvement in the various Balkan conflicts. But with the advent of the Global War on Terror and the subsequent interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. military, especially the Army and the Marines Corps, has been faced with an unprecedented challenge to reestablish entire countries and rebuild their institutions.

Critics of irregular-warfare transformation often cite the 2006 Lebanon campaign as evidence that modern nonstate actors can wage conventional warfare in state-like ways. This analysis assesses this claim via a detailed analysis of Hezbollah’s conduct of the campaign at the tactical through theater-strategic levels of war.

On September 28, 2007, under the joint leadership of the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute and NBR’s Pyle Center for Northeast Asian Studies, approximately 70 leading experts on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) convened at Carlisle Barracks, PA, for a 2-day discussion on the Chinese military’s human infrastructure. Presentations and discussions focused on identifying trends in PLA recruitment, education, training, personnel management, and demographics.

The global conflict against Islamic terrorists and their perceived threat to the United States have propelled the African continent into U.S. counterterrorism policy. The challenges facing the United States are widespread and long term, requiring deep knowledge and understanding of sub-Saharan Africa.

Using different weapons and different skill sets, the military officer serving as an advisor can win--or lose--important battles. His relationship with foreign officials affects overall American strategy, and can translate into long-term victory for the United States.

This report maintains that, although Chinese-Russian relations have improved along several important dimensions, security cooperation between Beijing and Moscow has remained limited, episodic, and tenuous. Nevertheless, U.S. national security planners should prepare for possible major discontinuities in Sino-Russian relations. American officials should pursue a mixture of “shaping and hedging” policies that aim to avert a hostile Chinese-Russian alignment while preparing the United States to better counter one, should it nevertheless arise.

The Key Strategic Issues List gives researchers, whether military professionals or civilian scholars, a ready reference of those issues of particular interest to the Department of the Army and the Department of Defense. Its focus is strategic, rather than operational or tactical. Every year, the KSIL helps guide research efforts to the mutual benefit of the defense community and individual researchers.

The participants in this colloquium sought to examine three general areas: the roles and responsibilities of military leaders and changes in the relationship between civilian and military leaders. Experts from the military, government, and academia presented their not-for-attribution assessments and recommendations for further increasing U.S. effectiveness in civil-military relations.

On March 6, 2008, the 21st Century Defense Initiative and the Strategic Studies Institute held a seminar entitled “The State of the U.S. Military Reserve Components.” This seminar focused on the future mission sets and priorities, personnel policies, and deployment of National Guard and Reserve troops.

Volume I of the U.S. Army War College Guide (USAWC) to National Security Issues corresponds roughly to one of the two core courses that the Department of National Security and Strategy (DNSS) teaches: “Theory of War and Strategy.”

Volume II of the U.S. Army War College Guide (USAWC) to National Security Issues corresponds roughly to one of the two core courses that the Department of National Security and Strategy (DNSS) teaches: “National Security Policy and Strategy.”

The author contends that the long-term decline of the state will move the world into a New Dark Age in which the forces of chaos and disorder will be almost overwhelming. Alternative options for the U.S. response to the security challenges posed by such an environment are examined.

A border is both a place of separation and connection, intended to be a barrier to the unwanted—particularly criminal, illegal, or specifically terrorist entry—but simultaneously a connecting point for legitimate trade, services, and knowledge.

Do American military ties with other nations help prevent violence and terrorism? Or are foreign states more likely to experience domestic unrest and instability in part because of an American military presence?

Contributors to this volume agree that climate change is a threat deserving of serious attention. They stress the need for greater planning and coordination and for further research as well as the utility of engagement—military to military and state to state—on environmental issues. They differ as to whether the Armed Forces should play a leading or supporting role, but agree that they can—and already do—make a valuable contribution.

For a number of reasons, many of which are self-induced, the United States is in danger of losing, or may have already lost, the strategic initiative in Korea to the People's Republic of China. Given time, the ramifications of ceding the initiative to China may result in a unified Korea tilted toward Beijing.

This monograph identifies a set of approaches to Muslim beliefs and institutions that pathologize these important issues. The author contends that this pathologizing impulse may be beneficial in rallying Americans to the defense of their nation, but it might impede the international cooperation necessary to that endeavor. She also aims to educate the reader about the value inherent in particular concepts that could be controversial but are part of Muslims' historical legacy.

The author argues that Pakistan’s rapidly mounting energy insecurity magnifies the economic and strategic importance of Pakistan’s sprawling and energy-critical southwestern province of Balochistan, while it simultaneously complicates Pakistan’s efforts for coping with the province’s simmering Baloch tribal separatist insurgency. He concludes that Pakistan’s government needs to overhaul its counterinsurgent policies to avoid protracted conflict and to enlist the Baloch as partners in energy development, not antagonists of it.

This report assesses the progress of China’s space program during the Tenth 5-year Plan (2001-05), examines the implications of this rise, and proposes a course of action for managing the effects of increased competition on the U.S. space program.

The author examines the extent to which some states create the conditions for revolutionary movements to flourish. He explores how the governments in Vietnam (1955-63), Algeria (1945-62), and Nicaragua (1967-79) unintentionally empowered revolutionary movements, resulting in these governments’ demise.

The author describes the state of the armed forces and the police in post-war Liberia, evaluates the ongoing process of security sector reform, and makes recommendations to the United Nations and the U.S. Government on consolidating military and police transformation

A colloquium titled “Opportunities For Engaging Minority Communities in Securing Our Nation” was held on February 11, 2008, at The Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and addressed methods for successful engagement by security and public health agencies with Latino, Muslim, and at-risk communities.

The presence of drugged fighters is not unknown in the history of warfare. Irregular fighters have found a ready supply of narcotics for a variety of combat purposes. Such consumption has led to unpredictable fighting, the commission of atrocities, and to the prolongation of internal violence.

Russia presents an ever greater challenge to American policy and interests. This monograph analyzes the dimensions of Russian threat perception, the mainsprings and goals of contemporary Russian foreign policy, and the requirements for a coherent U.S. strategy to meet that challenge across the entire agenda of Russo-American and East-West relations.

If possible, it would be useful to enhance the International Atomic Energy Agency’s ability to detect and prevent nuclear diversions. This would not only reduce the current risk of nuclear proliferation, it would make the further expansion of nuclear power much less risky.

North Korea has never officially abandoned its objective of “completing the revolution in the south” and has continued an alarming military buildup. The ballistic missile inventory now totals about 800 road-mobile missiles, including about 200 Nodong missiles that could strike Japan.

Were the actions in 2006 by the senior military leaders who participated in the “Revolt of the Generals” justified? Or were there real costs incurred by the military professions they represented, costs that can only be seen when examined in terms of the critical trust relationship that empower such professions?

The attack on the World Trade Center and subsequent conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan changed forever how Americans think about “national security.” These events expanded not only the number and scope of issues, but also the overall complexity of the process. Consequently, the requirement for interagency decisionmaking accelerated, demands for greater policy flexibility increased, and an interagency process that was largely confined to a few departments of the Federal Government now involves a multitude of new players and allied states.

The author evaluates the extent to which America’s principal military ally, the United Kingdom, has been able to transition to effects-based operations and the implications this has for the United States.

The author seeks to show how social, political, cultural, and environmental factors have combined to impede Iraqi police development in ways that are predictable, understandable, and, with external help, resolvable.

The topic of Women in Combat has been one of great emotion, but uncertain factual content until recently. The rules created to deal with the fact that women want to serve in the armed forces have ranged from silly to serious, but the factual bases have changed and the plea of all the contributors is to review the entire issue with objectivity and attention to the facts as they exist.

After Pakistani President Musharraf imposed a state of emergency in November 2007, the political turmoil that followed
raised concerns that Pakistan’s nuclear assets might be vulnerable to diversion or misuse. This volume details precisely what these worries might be.

Building on his 2005 monograph, Street Gangs: The New Urban Insurgency, the author answers questions regarding “What are the implications of the gang and other Transnational Criminal Organizations’ assault on stability in the Western Hemisphere?” and “What are the implications of the clash of values between liberal democracy and criminal anarchy?”

Given the wide-ranging and deep impact of counterinsurgency, the participants in the "Future Defense Dilemmas" seminar conducted by The Brookings Institution and the Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, explored two key questions: (1) Is the United States pursuing and executing the right strategy? And (2) Does the military’s focus on counterinsurgency detract from other defense and security needs?

The contemporary challenges underpinning interagency cooperation within the U.S. Government are not entirely new. This monograph addresses the security, stability, transition, and reconstruction missions that place the most pressure on interagency communication and coordination.